The Global Youth Advancement Summit brings together up to 200 young leaders to address and develop innovative solutions to major challenges facing people around the world. Focusing on the grand challenge of Global Inequity, delegates will exchange ideas, showcase innovative products and services, pitch their business ventures, and build genuine networks that will enable them to collaboratively define their future in a way that is equitable, just, and sustainable.

All youth delegates must receive a written acceptance of their proposal in order to attend the Summit. Proposals should demonstrate delegates’ contribution to solutions that reduce Global Inequities in one of the five key thematic areas: Arts and Culture, Education, the Environment, Healthcare, and Livelihoods (Employment and Entrepreneurship).

Inequities in education deprive youth around the globe of opportunities to improve their livelihoods and contribute to their communities. Limited access to quality education, for example, hinders individual growth and personal development, as well as social, economic and political advancement. Improved educational conditions provide a solid platform for advancement and innovation, significantly impacting a young person’s ability to compete with their peers globally. Of particular interest in this sector is the need to improve opportunities for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. Improving access to STEM education is more than promoting STEM subjects. It provides exposure to the value and relevance of creative problem solving to address everyday issues as an alternative to the rote learning method. It also reveals the interconnectivity of learning across disciplines and helps young people, especially young girls, develop new aptitudes that transform their world view and expand their career opportunities and choices!

Today, approximately 120 million young people join the labor market each year, and more than 73 million of them are consistently documented as under or unemployed. Without access to opportunities for income, global youth populations are unable to secure basic necessities for living such as food, water, and shelter. Now more than ever, young people must devise solutions to ensure financial acumen and income opportunities for their livelihoods.

Many people around the world suffer from treatable diseases and health-related issues due to the lack of access to quality and affordable institutions, practitioners, and medicine. Global pharmaceutical companies have been critiqued for inflating the costs of life saving medicines and access to well-trained healthcare professionals is generally limited to middle and upper middle class populations, thereby leaving the economically disadvantaged with very little hope for a healthy life. Young people have a critical role to play in identifying solutions that reduce maternal and child mortality and increase life expectancy for all, irrespective of socioeconomic status. This is a fundamental human right.

Rarely do we see the consequences of unscrupulous environmental decisions take immediate effect. Deforestation and flooding, mining and water source pollution, farming practices and soil quality—all of these relationships have long-term impacts. Individuals, communities, corporations, and governments continue to make decisions that are convenient in the short-term; and yet, have had harmful and damaging effects that are unsustainable for the future. Perhaps more so with the environment than any other theme, young people have an extraordinary responsibility and opportunity to carve out space, innovate, and advocate for equitable and sustainable practices to protect their future.

Art and its “mother”, Culture, surround us all the time in what appears to be a symbiotic and somewhat seamless coexistence. They are powerful forces that have the ability to reinforce ideologies or challenge and transform them altogether. Unfortunately, like everything else, art and culture too often, mirror the social, political and economic inequities that we see in other sectors of society. For instance, the arts and cultures of non-Western, non-capitalist societies have historically been either devalued or co-opted without attribution and compensation to the originators. Despite (or maybe, more appropriately, because of) the insidious nature of this issue, we need young people to share innovative ideas on how to promote true cultural and artistic diversity and inclusion through their individual renditions, documentation of their cultural heritage and projections of their envisioned future!

What Can You Expect from the Summit?

Engage in Meaningful Mentorship

Work with an assigned faculty member or industry professional that will meet with you virtually before the summit and join you for three mentorship breakfasts during the summit.

Participate in Hands-on Sessions, Workshops, & Innovation Labs

Expand your understanding about solutions to, innovations for, and research on inequities affecting communities through sessions, workshops, innovation labs and engage with young leaders.

Compete in the Entrepreneurship Competition

Participate in a competition to “pitch” your profitable venture to address global inequities affecting people around the world in Education, the Environment, in their Livelihoods, in Healthcare, and in Arts and Culture. Successful pitches will receive seed capital.

Professional Development

Gain the valuable experience of presenting at a conference among like-minded and passionate individuals.

Stay Abreast of Trends & New Resources

Generate new ideas and share resources in a collaborative space and glean insight from young leaders and experts committed to advancing youth-led initiatives.

Establish & Maintain Relationships with Young Leaders & Professionals

Connect with up to 200 young leaders and 50 other professionals who are passionate about addressing inequities facing people worldwide.

Important Dates

Call for Proposals Closes December 31

Early Bird Registration Opens February 11

Entrepreneurship Competitors Announced April 4

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Michigan State University’s Global Youth Advancement Network (GYAN) serves as a coordinating platform for research and international development activities related to the education, entrepreneurship, mentoring, and leadership training of young people between the ages of 10 and 35. GYAN builds on MSU’s legacy of international engagement and creates innovative solutions that improve the lives of millions of young people around the world. In collaboration with our faculty and flagship programs, GYAN is building on MSU’s land-grant values to address young people’s aspirations for sustainable global prosperity. Based on preliminary research findings, GYAN is focused on three priority themes: (1) convening for thought leadership, (2) capacity building, and (3) content development in partnership with governments, civil society organizations, and private corporations.